Women writers, debut novelists dominate DSC Prize 2018 entries

As the longlist for the DSC Prize 2018 is scheduled to be announced on 10 October, Dibyajyoti Sarma looks at the trends among the 88 submissions received this year.

Women writers rule the roosts in South Asian Literature. At least, this seems to be the consensus at this year’s USD 25,000 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature. The international literary prize received a total of 88 eligible entries, of which 45 are by women.
The other significant aspect of this year’s submissions has been the proliferation of debut novelists, with a significant 30% of the submissions being debut novels. Even among them, 15 are by women writers.

The DSC Prize, now in its eighth year, has always encouraged new and upcoming talent writing about South Asia. Last year, the Prize was given to Anuk Arudpragasam of Sri Lanka for his debut, ‘The Story of a Brief Marriage’. Other authors who took home the Prize for their first novels include HM Naqvi for ‘Home Boy’, Shehan Karunatilaka for ‘Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew’, and Jeet Thayil for ‘Narcopolis’.

The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, which was instituted by Surina Narula and Manhad Narula in 2010 is administered by the South Asian Literature Prize & Events Trust, and is specifically focused on showcasing and rewarding the best talent writing about the region and presenting it to a global audience.

On the submissions received this year, Surina Narula, founder of the DSC Prize, said the entries include a healthy mix of debut novelists along with established writers, women writers, translated novels, stories set in South Asia and beyond. “Close to a quarter of all the entries have come in from publishers outside South Asia, which highlights the growing importance of the region in the global literary landscape,” he said.

She also said 88 eligible entries received this year was the highest ever since the prize’s inception in 2010. These entries have come in from 40 publishers and across 56 imprints from across the globe and represent a healthy diversity in terms of publishers and region.

The prize has been able to attract the interest of not just the large well established publishing conglomerates, but also several smaller publishers with special interest in South Asian writing. The prize has received close to 25% of the submissions from publishers based beyond South Asia, which highlights the growing interest of publishers and authors across the world in South Asian writing.

The novels are at present being read and evaluated by a five-member international jury panel who would first announce a longlist of 12 to 15 books on 10 October. Thereafter, the shortlist of five or six books would be announced at the London School of Economics on 14 November and the eventual winner of the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2018 would be announced at a special Award Ceremony to be held in February 2019 in a South Asian country.

In line with its South Asian essence, the award ceremony is held in various South Asian countries by rotation. The winner of the DSC Prize 2015 was announced at the Jaipur Literature Festival, the winner in 2016 was announced at the Galle Literary Festival in Sri Lanka, and the winner in 2017 was announced at the Dhaka Lit Fest in Bangladesh.